'I don't think I ever lost the confidence as an actor.'
Remember that teenager who romanced Manisha Koirala in the bold and controversial film Ek Chhotisi Love Story?
Well, he's all grown up now, and is seeing success as an actor.
Aditya Seal has been a part of films like Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahani and Khel Khel Mein after his career got a boost with Student Of The Year 2.
"My father was the one who showed me the door to acting. He said if this is something you want to pursue, I'm going to pursue it with you. He would knock on doors and go and meet people who were casting randomly, enter their offices and speak to them," Aditya tells Mayur Sanap/Rediff.com.
Mainstream actors would be wary of doing a queer-centric project. As an actor, is there anything specific that you were looking to do with this film?
I take it up as a challenge. Honestly, I enjoy doing a lot of different things.
I started with Tum Bin II, where I've been a sweet guy, you know, a lover boy.
Then I played a negative role in Student of the Year 2/
I've been in Indoo Ki Jawani, and then I played Humayun (The Empire).
In Khel Khel Mein, I played a North Indian dude who's like a sort of angry person.
I enjoy doing a lot of different things.
You fall in love with a man in Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahani. What got you excited about its storyline?
I felt this is a story which needs to be told.
I've seen a lot of films where they show the struggle that the (LGBTQ) community goes through, and the struggle is absolutely real.
I personally know a lot of friends who have faced discrimination. Here, I thought we'd try and show a world where we go one step beyond the acceptance.
Yes, you have been accepted, now what's next? (The film shows) how we celebrate that, so I thought it was a fresh take.
How was your working relationship with co-star Sunny Singh in navigating those complex and cutesy moments in their relationship? Were there any awkward moments?
Weirdly enough, I was expecting awkwardness, but there wasn't.
The ice-breaker was that Sunny and I used to live literally three minutes away from each other in JB Nagar (Andheri, north west Mumbai) for the majority of our lives.
We met on the sets of Amar Prem and would talk about those days, what we used to eat there, the vada-pav stall, the pani-puri stall, the best sandwich...
We used to work with the same gym trainer, and we didn't even know.
So it became an easy bond because we had many things in common.
Also, he's a very easy dude, no complexes.
It's very easy to be friends with Sunny.
I called him up two days ago for his birthday and he was in Goa. Tomorrow, we are supposed to go for a drive in his new car.
Do you think a film like this would pave the way for more progressive content in Hindi space?
It is important for people to understand that these are humans as well, and that this is a daily struggle for them. It is not something they go through once in a while.
It's daily discrimination, and a daily fight.
I'm not even saying it's the reality of the world today. Homosexuality has been around for eons.
I think it's a story that needs to be said and for people to understand and respect them and give them rights.
There's a line in the film: 'Itna sochega toh jeeyega kab? '. What was the moment in your life when you said that to yourself?
Kaam ko leke hi tha (It was related to work only).
There have been things that I would have wanted to do far better.
But I would start going down a rabbit hole, thinking this is maybe not meant for me or that I should do something different.
Then, once I just sat back and said to myself, listen my work was good and everybody appreciated it.
The thing is, I stopped enjoying the process of doing things because I would worry about the result.
So I said to myself, shut up and enjoy what you do.
You started your career with Ek Chhotisi Love Story, which was quite a bold and edgy experiment. How did that film happen to you?
Ek Chhotisi Love Story was a great incident.
I auditioned for the film and started shooting the next day. It was that quick.
The set was ready, and I didn't have time to know about the story.
I didn't know what the story was until I watched the film.
So I didn't choose the subject, the subject chose me.
You barely had a career after that even though the film got so much attention. What were you doing during all those years?
Well, I was really young. I must have been 13 or 14 in 2002, so it didn't make much of a difference in my life.
I wasn't actively looking for work after that.
But I kept training myself.
Gradually, I started getting work here and there.
Then there was a film which came in my kitty, Tum Bin II. Unfortunately, just a week before the release of the film, demonetisation happened and the film went unnoticed.
That was a very tough time because I had a lot of expectations.
Anubhav Sinha sir was directing the film, T-Series was the producer, the songs were good, expectations were high. But it didn't click.
It took me some time to understand and I don't think I dealt with it the right way.
I would wake up late so that my father would have left for work.
I would leave home and not come back until my parents were asleep.
I think that was my defensive mechanism to not face reality. I was just running away.
My father sat me down one day and said, you know you were good in the film, I want you to continue what you're doing because you will get your due.
That was the only assurance I needed.
I just needed somebody close to me to tell me that I was good in the film.
Since then, I did not stop. Failures did happen after that too, but I did not stop.
Is it true that you wanted to become a cricketer?
Yes. I even started training for cricket.
I was pretty good at it. I used to play at the Air India ground in Kalina (north west Mumbai).
And then one injury happened. It wasn't even an injury, my height just shot up and this bone under my knee sort of popped out. Anything that could even touch that bone would send me rolling on the floor in pain.
My father was the one who showed me the door to acting. He said if this is something you want to pursue, I'm going to pursue it with you.
He would knock on doors and go and meet people who were casting randomly, enter their offices and speak to them.
Do you discuss projects with your wife Anushka? Does she give you her inputs?
She prefers to be surprised by what I do. She obviously knew my character in Amar Prem, but didn't know what the story was.
She had no idea what Khel Khel Mein was about.
But if there is something I am confused about, whether I should be doing a project or not, then her opinion really matters to me.
What did she think of Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahani?
She loved it. She was very proud of the portrayal of the character.
She was extremely happy with Khel Khel Mein and pleasantly surprised with how it turned out.
The biggest film in your career so far is Student of the Year 2. Are you still in touch with Karan Johar? Do you seek career advice from him?
Of course, I'm still in touch with him. But every decision that I've taken has been mine.
I don't involve a lot of people in my decisions because I don't want to have any regrets that I did this because somebody else told me and it failed.
I am okay if a project doesn't live up to my expectations but it has to be my decision.
Does the lack of good opportunities make an actor bitter in some way?
That was the case earlier. But OTT has taken over our lives in such a way that I don't think there's lack of work.
So many new actors have been introduced.
I don't think you should be bitter at all.
It's just about being in the right place at the right time and then doing your best.
This is such a competitive industry. How difficult is to make your mark?
It is difficult because you never know what works for the audience.
Just one song can do the job for you.
Like for me, Bad Newz was all Tauba Tauba. Vicky Kaushal, of course, was a star before that, but now I think people see him in a far different light than what they did before that song.
I'm a little surprised with the amount of love I'm receiving for Amar Prem Ki Kahani. I've received at least 350 messages on my Instagram till now.
2024 is turning out to be a good one for you with both Khel Khel Mein and Aman Prem Ki Kahani releasing back to back. Do you think you are finally finding your place in Bollywood?
I don't think I ever lost the confidence as an actor.
Any producer or director I have worked with, they wanted to do multiple projects with me. That just says I am decent at what I do.
I want to see myself as what Johnny Depp does. He plays a character and makes the character a superstar. That is what I want to do.
I would love to play characters and be recognised as a star for playing those characters.
